Open Books

Built around the development of this house, four novellas are arranged by four authors who interweave them expertly. Each author brings with her a style and story intimately her own. I highly recommend this collection. Although I may be new to this genre, I LOVED this book! Several of the tales won Best Novellas of the year 2003 from the American Christian Romance Writers' Association.

See review of "measuring bowser", another book in this series

Excellent reference book, no first year college student should be without one.

Jan Stankus' book, How to Open and Operate a Bed and Breakfast, was the most valuable of all we have read before opening The Sanctuary B&B in Mossyrock, Washington. She has done her homework thoroughly, and made the monumental task of getting up and running easier.

Katherine Carroll

This book gives practical advice based on Melnik's years as a successful résumé writer. I marked many, many pages that contained items I wanted to put into practice. I gleaned information from this book that I had not read anywhere before.

Before you make the purchase--before you even decide that opening, owning or operating a bed and breakfast is for you, purchase this well-written, easy-to-read book and keep it on your book shelf for easy reference. The author has compiled a vital, step-by-step guideline with everything one needs to or should know about the business. I particularly appreciated the personal accounts of current and former innkeepers who tell the truth, shedding light on both the positive and negative aspects. Use it as a guidline when forming your business plan--and know it is essential to have a business plan. It will help you consider things you might not have thought of otherwise. If this is a project or lifestyle change you wish to undertake, I highly recommend this book.

From the author of: I'm Living Your Dream Life: The Story of a Northwoods Resort Owner McKenna Publishing

Most people have some sort of elevator speech already... I did. But, what you realize after reading this book is that there is a fine line between a "good" elevator speech (that sounds good and rolls off the tounge)... and an "effective" elevator speech (that sounds good, rolls off the tounge, AND actually increases your sales immediately).

Anyhow, this book lays it all out in a clear, simple, step by step fashion that made it very easy for me to have my elevator speech revamped in less time than it takes to prepare dinner.

Seriously... if you don't have a tight elevator speech like the ones that Eric spells out in this book... you're leaving a lot of potential sales and clients on the table. $49 for this book is a no brainer looking back at it and I'm glad I ponied up and made the investment.

- Trevor Mauch
Mach One Media Marketing, Inc

This is supposed to be the first book in a series about the life and work of Hudson Taylor. I have no idea what the other books in the series are like, or if they ever even got written, but I don¡¯t care. This is the one that matters. Why? Because it deals with the events in China that preceded and set the stage for Hudson Taylor¡¯s work. This book is important precisely because it is not about Hudson Taylor. There are lots of books about Hudson Taylor. But a study of his life and work can sometimes be misleading if one does not have some grasp of the work that preceded him.

Now, I hardly have time in this brief review to lay the foundation of 19th Century history one must have some understanding of in order to put this book in perspective. This book is, in fact, a powerful contribution to that history. But it is more than that, because it deals specifically with men like Robert Morrison and Charles Gutzlaff, whose contributions are often sadly underappreciated by conventional historians. Sun Yat-sen, for example, regarded Robert Morison¡¯s translation of the Bible as the starting point for what he referred to as the "awakening of China."

In the twenty-five years that Robert Morrison spent in China, he had about 10 converts. Not much of an accomplishment, perhaps, but in that same time he translated the Bible into Chinese, and that at a time when it was a serious offense to teach Chinese to a foreigner. Much of his work had to be done in secret. In addition to this, Robert Morrison had to support himself by working for the British East India Company. One can ponder long and hard about what could possibly motivate any man to endure the loneliness of the life he lived. It is either some bizarre insanity, or an absolute commitment to the purpose for which he believed God had put him in China. Only the ignorant would belittle Morrison¡¯s contribution to modern missions, or to the eventual demise of the centuries old emperor system which somehow could not survive the freedom of thought which was ushered in by Morrison¡¯s translation of the scripture.

It is December of 1833. He has less than a year to live. His wife (who is not in good health) and younger children have sailed for England. He is left alone one more time. Picture him now, pacing back and forth in his home in Macao, singing the hymn that spoke the one consuming passion of his heart during the last few days of his lonely life:

O for a heart to praise my God,
A heart from sin set free;
A heart that¡¯s sprinkled with the blood
So richly shed for me!

Robert Morrison died in 1834, in the arms of his oldest son. His body lies in a cemetery in Macau. He spent a hard, lonely life in pursuit of what he believed was the only hope for the people of China¡ªa Bible in their own language.

Gutzlaff is a bit more of a puzzle. He has not always been treated kindly by historians, because his cooperation with the opium smugglers was pretty blatant. He himself was not a smuggler, but he did sign on as a translator on opium ships. He did it, of course, to give himself the means to distribute the scripture widely, which he did. If it could be said that the ends justify the means, then Gutzlaff¡¯s actions were clearly justified. But I can¡¯t sign off on such a blanket endorsement of any approach that will do the job. Still, it is hard to fault his sincerity as a man who very definitely had a heart for reaching out to those who had never had a chance to hear the message of hope that he carried with him wherever he went. Broomhall¡¯s treatment of him is fair, and if Gutzlaff is not quite the man of God that Morrison is portrayed to be, it can at least be said that his heart was in propagating his message, not in furthering the opium trade. I am still very troubled by his seeming inability, or lack of understanding to take a stand against it. But I don¡¯t think any reasonable person believes that his decision to ride the opium boats constituted a wholehearted endorsement of the wretched opium business.

But I come back to my main point. This book is absolutely essential for anyone wanting to understand¡ªit is the definitive text on missions in China before Taylor. If you have any interest in that subject, I would heartily endorse this book.

This is a wonderful series for anyone trying to understand what mission and servanthood is really all about.

I purchased this book because the title was provocative. What I've discovered is an insightful and helpful book! Standish clearly writes to those who are called to be spiritual leaders in this time. His use of wisdom from great spiritual writers, contemporary examples and his own ministry blend well. I would recommend this to anyone looking for ways to grow spiritually as well as in leadership.